Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the research by Mark Ashworth et al 'Spatio-temporal associations of air pollutant concentrations, GP respiratory consultations and respiratory inhaler prescriptions: a 5-year study of primary care in the borough of Lambeth, South London', published in Environmental Health on 7 May.

Epidemiological studies have shown that long-term exposure to air pollution (over years or lifetimes) reduces life expectancy, mainly due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Short-term exposure (over hours or days) to elevated levels of air pollution can also cause a range of health impacts, including effects on lung function, exacerbation of asthma, increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality.

The Ashworth et al (2021) study adds to the existing evidence base that exposure to air pollution can cause adverse respiratory effects, concluding that short- and long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 particles are associated with an increase in the daily number of General Practitioner respiratory consultations and inhaler prescriptions.